How to convince my boss not to inflate my job title? [duplicate]

Question

I previously worked for a company providing a service to a lot of marketing companies. A lot of these have an "art department."

So, when structuring, my boss emulated those marketing companies and called the department that takes the graphics from the company and modifies them slightly (if at all) and puts them on the layouts per the 'specs' (stuff customer puts in the e-mail cross referenced with the many and subjective functionalities of the printer and more often, the printers operator) the "art department."

In my position I don't feel like the title "Graphic Designer" or "Graphics Developer" are appropriate. However my boss insisted on calling me the "Art Department Director."

So how does one handle this hyper-inflated position nomenclature? How can I convince my boss to have a more realistic job title?

Answer 1

You may be able to discuss having an "official" (contracted) job title, and an "internal" job title. The latter is for clients, the former for you.

For example I'm a "Project Manager" when working with clients, but that doesn't make me a Project Manager, it just makes me a Software Developer who is currently managing a project.

The point is that you get your boss to agree, that way he won't mind seeing it on LinkedIn. There's nothing to say that you have to give your client the same job title as is on your contract, as a job title and a day to day role are not necessarily the exact same thing. If it was, my job title would be several paragraphs long to incorporate everything I do in a typical week...

Answer 2

If the company calls you an Art Department Director then I guess in their world that is what you are! As long as this is internally consistent within the organisation then not much harm can come of it.

The problem arises when you are seeking your next job move if your current job responsibilities are at odds in the "real world" with your job title. That's an easy one to solve in my view- On your resume don't quote your company job title, just quote your actual role, I.e what you actually do!

For example, if you think that what you are is a Junior Graphics Designer then on your resume call yourself a Junior Graphics Designer. If this causes conflicts within shared or online resources, such as LinkedIn, then that could clearly cause an issue if your employer questions why you call yourself something different to their given job Title. In that case you just have to have the (initially) awkward conversation with your boss on the job title he has given you! It might be that he is mistakenly thinking he is flattering you in order to keep you happy, whereas in fact it is having the opposite effect...

Answer 3

I am stumped.

You are the first person who wants to have a lower title than they actually have.

If I were you, i would just run with the current title. In your resume, you can discuss your duties and all. Why do you want to be seen in a lower light on linked in anyway?

Leveraging a better title will help you in any future job endeavours - you can tweak what you've done to take on more managerial roles, for example.

However, you didn't ask anything about the benefits of having a better title - and yes, there really really are benefits to it. You asked how to take on a lower title.

In terms of your resume, this is easy. Just put the lower title. If someone asks for references, when you give this company as one, you might mention to them they had a different system for titles.

In terms of linkedin, this is trickier. If you are at all customer-facing, then keep your title as what the company puts it. You can, when job hunting, always change your linked in settings to "don't update my contacts" and then downgrade yourself, if you want to.

But finally, i think you're being a little silly. Part of being promoted is being able to argue that you're better than others - your company is giving you an opportunity to argue that you have managerial nous.